new zealand

New Zealand. Come to our place for a holiday and see our great country we have no land boarders and our greatest friend is the southern stormy pacific ocean, the air and water is pure and pollution free, "godzone" commonly know as New Zealand is nuclear free and Home to the worlds best rugby players the all blacks. our closest cousins and neighbors Australia.

Manurewa: The music capital of Auckland where the great music is made by Bruce Morgan Music.

Famous New Zealand singers, Hayley Westenra, Ray Columbus, Alan Ward, Dennis Marsh. Dave Dobbyn, Shona Laing, Bic Runga, Prince Tui Teka, Sir Howard Morrison, Billy T James.

Music. The earliest settlers in New Zealand from England played traditional music from home in the mid nineteenth century. The Symphony Orchestra was formed in around 1940.

God Defend New Zealand is the national anthem, also the Maori the Haka is widely used at public openings

Maori music is sung in between song and speech. The traditional Haka has a leader who calls out the words at a higher tone, this is followed by a echo chorus with Vocal grunts and different body percussions also stamping feet, clapping hands, and slapping hips help to build the rhythm of the dance.

First explorers. The first Europeans known to reach New Zealand were the crew of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who arrived in his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen. on 13 December 1642. James Cook. the ship Endeavour sailed south into uncharted waters. On 6 October 1769 a cabin boy sighted land.

Largest lake. New Zealand's largest lake is Lake Taupo, being 616 square kilometers (or 238 sq miles) Lake Taupo was formed about 26,500 years ago after a major volcanic eruption and the water is clear and pure.

Highest mountain. New Zealand's highest mountain is Mount Aoraki or Mount Cook. It is 3,754 meters (12,316 ft) high.

Our largest city.. Auckland city is our largest city a population of over 1.4 million people. please take the Auckland link above for more detailed information.

Rainfall. Recent rainfall facts we had a high of 18.4 meters (60 feet) in 1997-1998 and a low rainfall of 167 mm (6.6 inches) in 1963-1964 .

Summer Christmas. New Zealand has a summer Christmas the native pohutukawa tree blooms at this time and is our summer Christmas tree the flower can be seen on the out side boarders of this web page.

Families. 24% of New Zealand families have only one parent.
Over 40% of Maori children live in one-parent families. 17% of NZ European children live in one-parent families. 41% have one child 36% have two children 23% have more than two children.

Schools. New Zealand's school students reported better relations with their teachers than the average for students in the OECD. New Zealand's students also reported more pressure to achieve good results is applied by their teachers than the OECD average.

Sport. popular sports numbers are as follows Rugby Union: 136,059 Golf: 132,063 Netball 123,069 Soccer: 105,000 Cricket 102,759

Bungy Jumping. Bungy jumpers leap from extreme heights with only a length of rubber tied to their ankles. the world's first commercial bungy jump took place in the south island of New Zealand in 1988.

Intelligence. New Zealanders who go to Australia raise the IQ of both countries was a statement by our former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon, his comments did not provide any numbers to back up this statement.

Fatty foods. For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100 kg of butter and 65 kg of cheese each year.

Prisons. 94% of those in jail in NZ are males. 50% are Maori. 36% are European. 12% are Pacific People.

Alcohol. The average New Zealander drinks: 5% less alcohol than the average Australian. 12% less alcohol than the average Briton. 30% less alcohol than the average German. 40% less alcohol than the average Irish.

Tobacco. One in five deaths in New Zealand is caused tobacco smoking. According to the 2006 census.18% of New Zealand's adult population classed themselves as regular smokers. Older surveys had found that: 50% of Maori, 30% of Pacific Islander and 20% of European people smoke.

The roads. NZ roads don't need to be salted so cars rust very slowly. Around a 20% of cars are less than seven years old. Around 65% of cars are between seven and 16 years old. Around a 17% of cars are over 16 years old. With 2.5 million cars for four million people, including children, New Zealand's car ownership rate is one of the highest in the world. Vehicles here drive on the left side of the road.

Renewable energy. New Zealand generates its electric power as follows about 10% from geothermal or volcanic heat. and another 55% from hydro dams. Wind power generation accounts for less than 5% of electricity,

Exports. New Zealand is one of the top five dairy exporters in the world. New Zealand's top ten export markets are: 1. Australia 2. United States 3. Japan 4. China 5. United Kingdom 6. Korea 7. Indonesia 8. Germany 9. Malaysia 10. Hong Kong there are over nine million beef and dairy cattle in NZ. 30% of New Zealand's land is forested. Forestry accounts for 12% of New Zealand's exports.

Sheep. In the early 1980s NZ was home to over 70 million sheep, the population in 2008 has declined to around 39 million.

Imports. The top ten countries New Zealand imports from are 1.Australia 2. China 3.United States 4.Japan 5.Singapore 6.Germany 7.Malaysia 8. Qatar 9.Korea 10.Thailand

Free trade. New Zealand currently has free trade agreements with
Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Tourism. 18% of New Zealand's export earnings come from tourism 9% of New Zealand's economy Tourism supports more than 10% of New Zealand jobs. tourists are made up of Australians 26% British 15% Americans 10% Japanese 8% Chinese 5% , In 2008 - 2009 tourists spent over NZ$6 billion in New Zealand

The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a magnitude 6.3.

The earthquake caused widespread damage across Christchurch, especially in the central city and eastern suburbs, with damage exacerbated by buildings and infrastructure already being weakened by the 4 September earthquake and its aftershocks. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 200,000 tones of silt. The earthquake was reported to be felt across the South Island and the lower and central North Island.

In total, 181 people were killed in the earthquake, making the earthquake the second-deadliest natural disaster recorded in New Zealand, Nationals from more than 20 countries were among the victims.

It has been estimated that the total cost of rebuilding to insurers to be around NZ$15–16 billion, making it by far New Zealand's costliest natural disaster, and the third-costliest earthquake (nominally) worldwide.

The earthquake was followed up by a large aftershock on the 13th june 2011. which caused considerable additional damage.

Education. Children in New Zealand's secondary schools spend more time than the OECD average learning mathematics, science, technology and physical education. They spend less time learning foreign languages, arts and religion than children in other countries.

Qualifications. The graduates from New Zealand's universities who tend to earn the highest salaries are those qualified in sciences, engineering and management & commerce. Creative arts, food, hospitality and personal services graduates tended to have lower salaries.

South Island. Christchurch is the largest city and the City of Dunedin is home to: New Zealand's oldest university. New Zealand's first newspaper. New Zealand's first botanic gardens.

New Zealand Maori. make up over 14 percent of the population. Their language and culture has a major influence on life in New Zealand.
some of our common terms
Kia ora = Gidday! mate
An attempt by a visitor to use Maori greetings will almost certainly bring a good response from all New Zealanders.
Kia ora — Hello
Kia ora tatou — Hello everyone
Tena koe — Greetings to you (said to one person)
Tena koutou — Greeting to you all
Haere mai — Welcome
Nau mai — Welcome
Kei te pehea koe? — How’s it going?
Kei te pai — Good
Tino pai — Really good
Haere ra — Farewell
Ka kite ano — Until I see you again (Bye)
Hei konei ra — See you later

European New Zealander. The 2006 Census counted 2,381,076 New Zealand Europeans, Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry,

Pacific peoples in New Zealand. The many Pacific ethnicities are Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan, Niuean, Fijian and Tokelauan groups, with smaller numbers from Tuvalu, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and the small island states of Micronesia. the Majority now are born in New Zealand The Pacific community in New Zealand, numbering 265,974 . 60% of New Zealanders define themselves as part of the Pacific islands..

Rotorua. a great holiday place for the family or just to relax a friendly town that will call you back Accessible from Auckland, Rotorua (a nearby town) is famous for its volcanic activity. The area contains many geothermal reserves such as Waimangu, Waiotapu, and Whakarewarewa, which are all situated in beautiful natural surroundings. All these reserves have spectacular examples of geysers, boiling pools, hot springs, boiling mud, volcanic terraces, and craters. Rotorua also has many beautiful lakes to swim in and plenty of native bush for trekking. Mt Tarawera a spectacular volcano is close by and there are tours by 4WD that take you up to the top offering superb views and into the rim of the volcano. Rotorua is also the best area in New Zealand to learn about Maori Culture. Rotorua is situated in the Bay of Plenty region.